We live in a world where X-Com creator Julian Gollop can put a project onto Kickstarter and have its confetti parade success or outright failure come right down to the wire. I’m not sure how to feel about that. In the end, though, Chaos Reborn’s crowdfunding drive succeeded and then some, which I suppose means the world and I are cool. For now.

The man, the myth, the person whose last name rhymes with my favorite word in the entire English language (dollop) posted a message of gratitude:

“Chaos Reborn has been funded with just 34 hours to go on the clock. Thank you to everybody who backed the project and promoted it. Thanks to my team for working after hours to make the prototype possible, and providing all the art and publicity material during the campaign. And thanks mum for being such a vocal supporter!”

The Kickstarter has since wound to a close, pulling in a (mystical unicorn) hair over $200,000. Its original goal was $180,000.

I recently had Gollop and, as a birthday surprise to myself, XCOM: Enemy Unknown lead designer Jake Solomon on A Game And A Chat, and great times were had by all. Also, I found Chaos Reborn to be quite good, even if I did find myself woefully outmatched by two of turn-based strategy gaming’s brightest minds. It’s an exceedingly quick game with deception baked into its very bones. You don’t get the mid-battle commander-on-unit love affairs of X-Com, but the inherent drama of second-guessing your opponents’ every move almost makes up for it. Or, well, actually it doesn’t, but it makes for a wholly different sort of experience. This isn’t X-Com wearing wizard pajamas, in other words.

Seems to be a brilliant gameconcept. Trustworthy and achieved creator. Star studded successful people speak up on his behalf. Really bad production values on the pitch video for Kickstarter. Just compare it to the Planetary Annihilation pitch! There goes your money =/

The Kickstarter must at least pique the interest of the viewer to make it through the 2-3min pitch video or you lost the chance.

I am so glad this one got funded, but it really did not need to be that close. I guess it will generate proper sales figures later on just on the wings of good reviews!

The game concept is very similar to the original, and Julian Gollop has already made it three times before (Chaos, Lords of Chaos, Magic & Mayhem), so I don’t think there’s a realistic prospect of it falling down on that score. Julian’s games are almost always a variation either on the wizards-in-a-box-flinging-gooey-blobs-at-each-other or space-marines-zapping-lasers-at-aliens themes; he’s a safe pair of hands in whichever of those two genres he chooses.

And that is the tragedy of Kickstarter! When you are able to convey your dreams in a very condensed fashion your Kickstarter has the capability to soar. If you cannot write the “popcorn cinema” teaser commercial version of your dream/love/life than you will stutter through the finish line and need very realistic ambitions as a minimum.

And thats the tragic of this Kickstarter! The man breathes strategic thinking, the color-theme is vivid and bright and positive, the game aspires to be multiplattform and with iOs and Android even a portable experience. It is practically a match made in heaven for all of us strategy enthusiasts who sit bored on the train because of the shallow offerings on our handhelds.

You get that vibe when you read the Kickstarterpage, not by watching the Video. Selling a strategy game in a few seconds is a daunting task because complexity needs some time to sink in and show its grandeur. Still i feel that video does not convey the design principles or goals of the game. Chaos is great! What makes it great? Speak about that in the Kickstarter, earn your “staring-eyes” tag on RPS while you gaze into the bright future and make it fun to support your drive. Not because you are vain or egomainiac but because you understand the insanely short attention span of ALL customers on this world.

Julian’s mum really was part of the journey, regaling us all in the Kickstarter comments thread with Julian anecdotes including what he was having for dinner and his favourite tea. She also backed the game at God level, so Julian’s mum will indeed be an omnipotent presence in the game.

It’s all fine and dandy the project got funded, but that begs the question: what kind of game can one afford to create with such a small amount? Definitely a simple iPad-friendly game with a bunch of random maps, but not necessarily the game Julian Gollop had in mind when launching this kickstarter (with a robust SP campaign).

The Kickstarter promises a “Huge Single Player Campaign”, if that’s your thing. I can take it or leave it; Gollop’s Laser Squad Nemesis is one of my favourite games ever, despite me not playing the (supposedly rudimentary and tacked-on-after-the-event) single player campaign.